Curt Flood vs. Bowie Kuhn

    Curt Flood was sick of getting traded from team to team. He even refused to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies, which is how the Flood vs. Kuhn case was brought about. In 1969, on Christmas Eve, Curt Flood wrote a letter to Bowie Kuhn demanding to become a free agent. Flood stated, "After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective to my wishes."  Flood believed that he had the right to consider other offers from other clubs before making a decision. Bowie Kuhn replied five days later, agreeing with Flood that as Human Beings, we are not property to be bought or sold. However, Bowie Kuhn denied Flood of his request. Flood took Bowie Kuhn to court, but after a long battle Curt lost. Even though Curt Flood was denied in court, it wasn't nearly over yet. Now there were more players facing the same problem as Flood.



Messersmith-McNally Case

    Dave McNally and John "Andy" Messersmith are both former MLB pitchers. In 1975, Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith were the only two players playing under the one year reserve clause in effect at the time. So they basically decided to team up and "attack" the reserve system. Andy Messersmith commented almost a decade later saying "It was a matter of being tired of going in to negotiate a contract and hearing the owners say, 'OK, here's what you're getting. Tough luck'." They went on to eventually win the case and the reserve clause was now gone from the MLB. Although Dave McNally did not intend to go on in his career, Andy Messersmith continued on with his. He signed a three year contract with the Atlanta Braves for 1 million dollars. Atlanta Braves' owner, Ted Turner, suggested the nickname "Channel" and the jersey number 17 for Andy Messersmith in order to promote the television station the Braves aired on. Even though the Curt Flood failed to establish free agency, he helped pave the way to sucsess for it to become a reality.